Ms. Zhang Yuanru and Ms. Zhang Yuanzhen are sisters from Pi County, Chengdu City in Sichuan Province. At 10:00 p.m., on August 31st, 2009, they were arrested by officers from the Hongguang Town Police Station and brutally beaten.

Both practitioners were kicked with heavy leather shoes, whipped with leather straps, beaten with electric batons, and savagely pinched. In less than 24 hours, their entire bodies were covered in bruises and turned black and blue.

Ms. Zhang Yuanzhen, in her fifties, was repeatedly struck in the face, causing the left side of her face to turn black and blue. She also experienced intermittent hearing loss, before being released the following day.

Ms. Zhang Yuanru, 66, was handcuffed to an iron chair and beaten by officer Su Bo, who exclaimed, "My name is Su Bo and I like hitting you. I am not scared if try to sue me!"

Ms. Zhang Yuanru was later taken to the Pi County Detention Centre, where guards extorted 1,500 yuan1 from her.

On the afternoon of September 2nd, 2009, Ms. Zhang Yuanzhen and her family members went to the Chengdu City Police Department and demanded her immediate release and punishment for Su Bo. The family members were told to talk to the agents from the Pi County Department to solve the issue.

Note

1. "Yuan" is the Chinese currency; 500 yuan is equal to the average monthly income of an urban worker in China.